Toy railroad track



March 30; 1954 J. 1.. BONANNO TOY RAILROAD TRACKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 26 1951 INVENTOR. L/OJEPH 4. 50M: /V/V0.

ATTORNEY.

March 30, 1954 J. BONANNO 2,573,689

TOY RAILROAD TRACKS Filed March 26, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR.4-75.95; L. EO/VA/VA/O.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 30, 1954 TOY RAILROAD TRACK Joseph L. Bonanno, Madison, N.J., assignor to The Lionel Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporationof New York Application March 26, 1951, Serial No. 217,582

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to toy railroad tracks, and is moreparticularly directed toward toy railroad tracks employing two or morerails supported on an insulating base, such as cross ties.

The present application is a continuation in part of my application,Serial No. 607,176 filed July 26, 1945 since abandoned.

Where the rails of toy railroad track are supported on an insulating.base or on insulating cross ties, special provision must be made forsecuring the rails to the insulating material, so that the rails arevery securely held in lace and yet the insulating material is notinjured during the assembly operations.

The present invention contemplates several forms of construction wherebythe rails are secured to the insulating base or cross ties.

The present invention also contemplates that the fastening meansemployed for securing the rails to the insulating base or cross tie willbe such as to provide a simulation of the spikes ordinarily employed infastening railroad rails to the railroad cross ties.

The accom anying drawings show, for purposes of il ustrating the presentinvention, six embodiments in which the invention may take form, itbeing understood that the drawin s are illustrative of the inventionrather than limiting the same.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of one form of construction wherein the railfastening or securing means simulates a single spike at each side of therail flange;

Figure 1A is a perspective View illustrating such a form of railfastening means:

Figure 2 is a cross sectionalview on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, one ofthe fastening devices having been omitted;

' Figure 3 is a cross sectional view onitheline 3--3 of Figure l, thetrack rail being omitted; Figure 3A is an enlargement to show clearance;

Figure 4 is a top plan view illustrating another form of constructionfor providing a similar single spike appearance;

Figure 4A is a perspective View of the fastening device of Figure l;

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a view similarv to Figure. 4 illustrating a modified formof construction in which the rail fastening, meansof Figures ite v6 isemployed in a manner to simulate four spikes where each track rail issecured to a tie;

Figure 7A is a fragmentary top plan view of the tie of Figure 7;

Figure 8 is across sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 53-4 of Figure '7,part of one rail being omitted;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a single device adapted whenassembled to provide simulation for four spikes;

Figure 11 is a transverse sectional view showing the device of Figure 10in position;

Figure 12 is a section taken on the line l2--l2 of Figure 11.

Figure 13 is an exploded perspective view showing a modified form ofconstruction in which a single member secures both track rails to theinsulating base;

Figures 14 and 15 are transverse and longi tudinal sectional viewsthrough an assembled track section (having the parts shown in Figure13), Figure 14 being taken on the line l i-ll of Figure 15 and Figure 15being taken on the line |5l 5 of Figure 14;

Figure 16 is a sectional view illustrating the securement of the thirdrail of Figure 3 to the insulating base; and

Figure 17 is a v ew illustrating a modified form of fastener for bothtrack rails.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 13, inclusive, two solid railssuitable for toy railroad operation are illustrated at 23, 25!. The tiesare indicated at 2!. These ties are molded insulating material and ashere shown, each tie is of inverted box-shaped construction, so as to berecessed as indicated at 22, as shown more clearly in Figure 2. Eachtieis molded to have circular holes or openings 23 spaced according to thegauge of the tracks, and where these holes or openings appear, themolded material is provided with a reinforcement, indicated at 25.

he rail fastener 25, indicated more clearly in igure 1A., is a metalturning of the right size to pass upwardly through the hole 23. It has aflange to engage with the bottom of the tie and flat sides 2'? to engagethe side walls of the recess 22, so as to assure proper registry of thedevice in the hole.

The rail fastening device 25 has two prongs 2&2t which extend up abovethe upper surface is of the tie. The surface 29' between the prongs isjustabovethe top of the tie, as clearly shown in Figure 3A. 'iheseprongsare spaced the proper 3 width to receive the flanged base 30 of the railwhich rests on the surface 29. The prongs are bent or swaged inwardly,as indicated in the drawings. This operation takes place in a press, inwhich the bottom of the fastener member 25 is rested on a suitable base,and no pressure is transmitted through the insulating material. Thefastening device is secured to the rail and the tie held to the rail.While the track shown in Figure 1 is a two-rail track, it will beunderstood that a third rail may be similarly supported.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 4 to 6. inclusive, the cross ties 40are generally similar to those above described, but are provided withlongitudinally extending slots 4| (Figure 4B) spaced according to thetrack gauge and somewhat longer than the width of the rail flange. Thetie has a thickened reinforcement, indicated at 42, through which thisopening passes and the lower part of the opening is rounded, asindicated at 43, to facilitate the insertion of the track securing orfastening means. This device, as shown in Figure 4A, is a flat metalstamping 44 with lateral extending bottom flanges 45, 45, adapted tooverlie the reinforcement 42, with a bod portion 46 passing up throughthe opening 4|, and with two prongs 41, 41, adapted to extend above thetop of the tie and be pressed over on to the top of the rail flange topress the bottom of the flange against surface 49 and then pressed overon to the flange of the rail, as above described. Each prong 41 thensimulates a spike.

In the form of construction shown in Figures '1 to 9, inclusive, tie 5i]resembles the tie 40 above described, but instead of having a narrowlongitudinally extending slot 4|, it has a hole 5| somewhat wider thanthe hole 4| and provided with two web-like elements 52, which narrow thewidth of the hole to that of the width of the base of the rail. In theregion of the holes 5|, the ties are thickened, as indicated at 53. Thetwo railfastening devices 44, 44, the same as shown in Figure 4A, areemployed for each track rail, these devices and the rail being securedtogether in the same manner. One such device is used to hold down thethird rail.

When the parts are in position, the web-like elements 52, 52, fill thespace between the two rail-fastening means 4G, 44, so that no visibleopening or hole appears in the top of the construction.

In the arrangement shown in Figures to 12, inclusive, the track-securingdevice 60, generally of U-shaped configuration, is formed of sheetmetal, as shown in Figure 10. Its upper portions are the same as inFigures 4-9, while its lower portion has laterally extending flanges 6|,6|. It is employed in the tie with the same configuration as the tie 58described above. The extensions 6|, 6|, overlie the reinforcements 53.

The construction shown in Figures 13 to 16 employs a skeletonized moldedinsulating base 1!! of the length of a track section and havingcross-ties 1| and three track-bearing longitudinal elements 12, 13 and14, forming openings 15. The molding may be so made as to eliminate theopenings 15, and the ties project to simulate the appearance of a roadbed outside the rails. In line with each cross-tie and spaced the widthof the bases of the wheel-bearing rail 16 and 11, the insulating base isprovided with narrow risers 18 which simulate tie plates.

At suitable locations along the track section, usually at the ends andin the middle, the insulating base is provided with elongated slots 19 4similar to slots 4|. In Figure 13, these slots are arranged in pairs inline with two adjacent ties.

A rail-fastener device is made of a single piece of sheet metal. It isof U-shaped crosssection and has a central bottom portion 8|, two sideflanges 82, which engage the bottom of the insulating base in a mannersimilar to the flanges 45 of fastener 44, four upwardly extendingportions 83, similar to the portion 46 of the fastener 44 and eightprongs 84 similar to the prongs 41. The portions 83 pass through theslots 19 and the prongs 84 are bent over into the rails as before.

The fastener 80 secures the wheel-bearing rails to the base and at thesame time electrically connects them so that both wheel-bearing railsform ground returns.

The center rail 85 of Figures 13 and 14 is secured in place by afastener 86, Figure 16, similar to the fastener 44.

The fastener 99 shown in Figure 17 is like one side of the fastener 80.It connects the twotrack rails.

Track sections made up according to any of the showings herein areextremely strong and stiff. Not only does a section effectively resisttorsional strain exerted lengthwise of the track, but it also resiststwisting when pressures are applied lengthwise of the opposite ends ofthe track section. The ties may be securely fastened to the rails atprecise and predetermined distances from the ends of the rails so thatthe ties ma be used with coupling devices for securing track sectionstogether with a certainty of aligning and spacing of parts.

Since it is obvious that the invention may be embodied in other formsand constructions within the scope of the claims, I wish it to beunderstood that the particular forms shown are but a few of these forms,and various modifications andchanges being possible, I do not otherwiselimit myself in any way with respect thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. Toy railroad trackage comprising metal rails with flanged bases, aninsulating rail-supporting base, provided with transversely extendingopenings under the rails and wider than the rail bases, and metal railfasteners having flanges engaging the under surface of therail-supporting base, body portions extending up through the saidopenings to have their upper surfaces engage the lower surfaces of therail base, and upper inwardly bent portions which overlie the railflanges to hold the flanges against the said upper surfaces.

2. Trackage as claimed in claim '1, wherein each rail fastener includesa flat, inverted T- shaped sheet metal element having two prongsextending from the upper end of the T for simulating two spike heads.

3. Trackage as claimed in claim 1, wherein each rail fastener is in theform of a U-shaped stamping with laterally extending elements formingthe bottom flanges and having two prongs on each side of the U, wherebyfour spike heads are simulated.

4. Trackage as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail fasteners are inpairs, side by side, and interconnected below the bottom by a plateintegral with the fasteners.

5. Trackage as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom flanges of twoaligned rail fasteners are integral with one another, so as toelectrically connect the two rails to which the fasteners are secured.

6. In toy railroad trackage, in combination, a

metal rail with a flanged base, a tie-simulating rail support ofinsulating material having a downwardly opening recess, and a hole underthe rail longer than the width of the rail base, and a rail fastenerhaving a lower head housed in the recess, a body portion extendingthrough the hole to provide upwardly facing rail base supportingsurfaces and upset terminal portions bent over against the flanges ofthe rail and holding the rail base to said body portion.

'7. Toy railroad trackage comprising insulating ties, flanged rails andfastening devices insertable upwardly through openings in the ties, thelower ends of the fastening devices having fixed heads to prevent upwardremoval, the upper ends having prongs bent over onto the rail flanges toprevent downward removal thereof, the devices having upwardly facingrail flange supporting surfaces between the bent prongs and formingabutments to receive the clamping pressure.

8. Toy railroad trackage comprising a plurality of parallel metal railswith flanged bases of predetermined width, an insulating base of greaterwidth than the spacing of the rails, the

base having openings spaced according to the crossing the openings, andmetal rail fasteners having body portions insertable into the openingsfrom below and fitting the openings, lower flanges engaging the lowerface of the base to limit upward movement of the fasteners, upper faceslevel with the upper face of the base and prongs extending upwardlyalongside the flanges of the rails and bent over onto the flanges tohold the rails to upper faces of the rail fastener.

9. Toy railroad trackage comprising an insulating base, two spacedWheel-bearing rails with flanged bases, the insulating base havingtransverse slots under each rail longer than the width of the rail base,and a metal rail fastener and connector having a bottom portion engagingthe under surface of the base, upwardly extending portions extendingthrough the slots and engaging the lower surfaces of the rails, andupset terminal portions bent over against the flanges of the rails andholding the rail bases against said upwardly extending portions.

JOSEPH L. BONANNO.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,779,605 Koerber Oct. 28, 1930 1,845,962 Dorr Feb. 16, 19322,186,186 Weinreich Jan. 9, 1940

